Transportation is inevitable for almost every human across the world since we have to move from one place to another every day. Going to our place of work, school, and other places requires that we make use of different means of transportation, and despite the importance, it's sad that people struggle a lot with transportation every day. This isn't just a problem of the third world countries, transportation issue is a global thing but it's worse in some parts of the world compared to others.
I have spent 97% of my existence in Lagos and can confidently say that transportation is one of our biggest struggles. Land and water transportation are the common means here in Lagos, but these two have big challenges, so we don't have a choice but to embrace patience while moving around the city.
Water transportation would have been the best option for us since we don't have to experience any form of traffic, but there are many parts of the city that aren't accessible by water, plus many of these water transportation companies aren't helping matters with the high cost of fares and lack of proper safety gear for passengers.
I will love to focus more on road transportation because 99% of Lagosians move by land and we go through the same hell every day trying to reach our destination. One of my worst traffic experiences happened about five years ago in Ojota. I was returning from work and didn't have a choice but to sit in a bus for three hours for a journey that shouldn't be more than an hour max and still ended up trekking to my destination when the traffic worsened.
Before now, I always blamed the government for not doing enough, but after seeing different road expansions across the city of Lagos and still the traffic didn't change, I came to the conclusion that there was more to Lagos traffic. The most annoying part is that sometimes you will never find the cause of the traffic when you finally pass through it.
It would be a lie to say that there aren't good road in Lagos, the problem is the excessive vehicles plying those roads at the same time. Due to the drastic increase in the city population, there are more vehicles on the road and thousands of impatient drivers who do not hesitate to break the traffic rules at every opportunity they get. Violating the road laws ends up causing heavy traffic, and those who didn't break the rules would have to pay for the culprits actions.
The road agencies who are meant to ensure the flow of vehicles are busy fighting their pocket and it's always terrible.
The government have tried controlling the issue of excessive vehicles on the road by providing big buses known as BRT, but a lot of people still prefer to move with their vehicles even when they know it doesn't make any sense. Going about with your car comes with comfort, but I do not see the real comfort in sitting behind the wheels for hours every day in traffic.
I once told someone the same thing, and he said I was just being lazy about driving, but that's not the case.
I have a boss who has many times parked his vehicle at a fuel station to take the commercial bus because of traffic. I asked him why he can't just go with a commercial vehicle in the morning, and he said it's not comfortable enough sitting in the public bus. A lot of people want to feel good driving around Lagos, but the truth is that we are all doing it ourselves.
It might sound like nonsense, but that's not the case because since the hike in the price of fuel about a year ago, we have experienced a reduction in traffic to an extent because many people can't keep up with burning so much fuel every day. I am not suggesting that people should dispose of their vehicles, but those cars should always be on the road when it's very important. This will help more than just reducing the traffic we experience daily; it will also reduce the waste released into the atmosphere every day.
The government can't force people to use commercial transportation more, but they can educate people about the benefits, and it's left for us to do the needful. In addition, the government will need to provide more conducive buses to meet the demand of commuters regarding comfort.
The price of gas is another challenge with transportation because the more the price increases, the more we have to pay for bus fares. These drastic increases in price, combined with the unavailability of the fuel itself, have caused a lot of issues in the country.
My church member spent over 3,000 naira on transportation yesterday despite living in the same town where the church is situated, and that tells how difficult it must be for people who move around every day. While some of us can choose to stay indoors and go out only when important, there are people who must hit the road every day just to make ends meet.
Creating a permanent solution for this is beyond the residents of Lagos, and moreover, it's a national issue. The government needs to do the needful for the citizens to ease how much transportation is taking from our wallets daily.
With these things in place, I believe that a huge part of transportation issues will be taken care of in Lagos State.
None of these things would be easy, but it's not impossible, and I strongly believe that amendments can be made, so I urge every Lagosian to play their part while President Tumbulu does the needful as well.
As long as we acknowledge these problems -excessive vehicles, reckless driving and the hike in price of gas and can work on the suggested solutions, we aren't far from enjoying the easy flow of transportation.